Bess donates to OAL, Laney

Our resident OAL expert Mr. Durkin is off this week, so I’ll pinch-hit for him with this bit of news. As Jimmy posted last week, Davone Bess, Miami Dolphins receiver and Skyline High grad, got some of his NFL buddies together to play a basketball game against the Oakland Police Department in the hopes of raising some money for the OAL.

Yesterday, Bess’s charity organization, the Bess Route Foundation, gave a $1,500 equipment grant to Skyline High as a result of the successful event over the weekend. It also gave $1,000 to the Laney College football program.

And, in case anyone was wondering and didn’t get a chance to go, the NFL team edged the OPD squad in the final seconds to get the win. Congrats to everyone who went out.

Ben Enos

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It is good to hear about players giving back to there old high schools.

Voiceofreason

Wow $2,500 from an NFL contract. Super generous.

renegades10

Bess was undrafted coming out of college, not exactly like he signed some big lucrative contract. He just got an extension but it’s not like he is rolling in the big bucks here. $2,500 to schools is $2,500. I’m sure he has donated some of his own money since he was drafted but this was a charity event he put on so it got press. It’s nice to see people give back to where they came from in any way.

c.sparks

post number 2 how much did you donate? EXACTLY

ManDown

Gosh post #2 how can you bash a guy for giving back? 2,500 is more money than a bunch of programs around here get. Plus who knows if he’s given them money before.

NCS Fan

voiceofreason Really? Really?

Amazing how some can hate so much on others doing good.

Awesome Davone Bess looking out for these kids and giving back!

KillerD

Very nice of Bess to give money.

Athletes get hit up from their family, friends, and every charity daily begging for cash. It is crazy.

Props to him for donation

Triton8

Man……who could be that stupid…to hate on someone for giving money to his old progams and coach? Thats being an ultimate hater…

It should also be noted that Bess and Beam also organized all the NFL players to sign autographs before the game and take pictures with all the kids. A truly great experience for all the kids, mine included! And definitely not something to take for granted.

Qbcoach

It should be noted that Davone has just started his foundation, Bess Route Foundation, and is involved with the youth and community, not only here in the Oakland Area, but also in Hawaii and Florida. Before he came to Oakland for the game, Davone had put on a free football clinic that he paid all the expenses for in Kauai. He has also done the same in Florida. Most of all, choosing to play the Oakand Police in a charity basketball game carried more than a dollar amount. As Devone stated in an interview with Pro Football Focus, “The reason why I choose the Oakland police is because people in my community look at the police as bad people. This is my way of showing the youth that NFL players interact with law enforcement and we work hand in hand. [I wanted to show them] that law enforcement are normal people too. They don’t take pride in taking people to jail. I was just trying to show them that police officers are good people just like NFL players.” Lord knows no dollar amount can buy that wisdom for our youth today.

Prep Fan

That is outstanding community involvment. Kudos to Davone. We need more people in his shoes to contribute to society like that.